Antony's statement on AugustaWestland very curious: BJP

New Delhi: BJP today termed Defence Minister A K Antony's statement in Rajya Sabha on AugustaWestland issue as "very curious" and alleged it "conceals more than it reveals" as the government has not flatly denied

PTI [ Updated: February 06, 2014 18:27 IST ]

antony s statement on augustawestland very curious bjp

New Delhi: BJP today termed Defence Minister A K Antony's statement in Rajya Sabha on AugustaWestland issue as "very curious" and alleged it "conceals more than it reveals" as the government has not flatly denied the allegations made by middlemen in the VVIP chopper deal.

The opposition party also questioned if there was any "match-fixing" going on in Italy after India's Defence Ministry and CBI had joined the hearings in the case there.

"Today's statement of the Defence Minister is very curious...The statement of the Defence Minister conceals more than it reveals before Parliament," BJP's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad said.

Asking the Defence Minister why he did not flatly deny the allegations by middleman Christian Michel as baseless and instead said the authenticity of certain notes by middlemen in the VVIP chopper deal in trying to target certain Indian leaders were "not proved".

"Why cannot the government of India so flatly deny that the allegations made are completely baseless...It could have been denied straight away and upfront.

"In the statement of the Defence Minister, why is there no categorical denial that all the statement of Michel Christian which has been elaborately reported in newspaper as Sonia Gandhi being the driving force," he said.